Note: The name of the mother speaking about her child’s traumatic experience has been changed to protect the family’s privacy.

SUMMERWOOD - The babysitter’s outstanding credentials provided no hint that the family was harboring an enemy within its midst.

“He is an Eagle Scout, and my older son knew him from the Weekday Learning Center at Atascocita United Methodist Church,” said Jenny, who lives in Summerwood with her husband and two young sons, now 5 and 6 years old. “He sent home fliers in the backpacks - ads for babysitting.”

Morgan Bryant, a resident of Walden, babysat for Jenny’s sons over a 5-month period from January until May 2008. One evening, as Jenny and her husband tucked the little boys into bed, alarm bells went off - red flags the boys’ parents were unable to ignore.

“My little one was just over 3-and-a-half years old, and he blurted out something that made us stop,” Jenny remembers. “It’s like time froze and we dropped into this abyss. It was a surreal moment. From there, it all unraveled. We called the authorities, had evaluations done at the Children’s Assessment Center. The first thing they said was that children don’t lie about something like this. The description they gave, for two little boys to describe it the way they did…”

The details of the allegations against Walden resident Morgan Bryant, whom court records describe as an obese now 18-year-old man with blue eyes and light skin, are graphic and personal.

On January 14, Bryant pleaded guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14, Jenny’s older son, who had just turned 5.

Prosecutor Charissa Sloan said the guilty plea came after the defense and prosecution had rested their case. Although only 16 years old at the time of the sexual abuse, Bryant was certified to stand trial as an adult. He had originally pleaded not guilty, but the evidence against him was overwhelming. The young victim was called to testify, Sloan said, as is mandatory in every sexual assault case and Bryant, too, took the stand. DNA evidence and inconsistencies in Bryant’s version of events sealed his fate.

“There was DNA on the living room couch, which Bryant testified got there when he found a pornographic video at the house, popped it into the DVD player in the living room, and became aroused,” Sloan said. “But the family doesn’t have any such videos in the house, and they don’t have a DVD player in the living room.”

After his story fell apart, Bryant entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Once he receives parole, Sloan said, he will have to register as a sex offender for life.

“I’m at peace because justice was served,” said Jenny. “It’s been a hellish 18 months. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. Both my sons testified, and my older one felt that pressure for a year and a half. When he came out of the court room, a weight came off his shoulders.”

Jenny said although her first impression of Bryant was that of a socially awkward teen, his list of credentials on the flier he sent out to advertise his babysitting services put the family at ease. The family felt that the fact that the Weekday Learning Center allowed him to distribute fliers in the backpacks of its students equaled an endorsement, or was at least an indicator that the school, where Bryant performed summer work and was involved in bible study sessions, blessed his actions.

“I rationalized that he was just nerdy, and on the flier it said he was in the International Baccalaureate program at Humble High School; plus he worked for my son’s pre-school, and I knew his mother,” she said. “I have since learned that organizations that deal with kids, the boy scouts or bible study, are like a magnet for a predator. We’re so lucky this day and age we have a national sex offender database, but, of course, Morgan Bryant wasn’t registered when he came into our lives.”

It is too soon to tell whether Jenny’s sons will experience long-term effects as a result of their exposure to a sexual predator. They underwent a 10-month period of therapy, and as they grow up and reach milestones in their physical and emotional development, further counseling may be needed.

For now, Jenny wants other parents to know that wolves can come in sheep clothing.

“We talk so much about stranger danger, but more often than not it’s someone you trust,” she said. “I also learned there is no such thing as just one victim. They’re serial criminals, and we’re lucky we caught Morgan so young, so hopefully he can’t do this to other children.”

Jenny said her family takes it day by day and tries to come to terms with the boys’ knowledge of a subject they should never have been exposed to at such a young age. She also stressed the importance of listening to children, and, perhaps more importantly, believing in them.

“It’s hard when you get so busy, trying to get dinner ready or get the kids to bed, and a lot of times your child will say something and it’s easy to rationalize or brush it off,” she said. “It’s a delicate balance. But if a child says something that makes you pause, you have to act on it, try to get to the bottom of it without overreacting. Believing the child goes a long way in healing, I was told.”